Tuesday 12 August 2014

Ken Hom's Quick Orange & Lemon Chicken - Recipe

Don't you love it when you find a quick, easy recipe for dinner that uses up store cupboard ingredients? Here is an excellent recipe by Ken Hom, from July's BBC Good Food, adapted as ever to suit my lack of Chinese greens, which has distinctive authentic Asian flavour and is ready in about half an hour. 


easy chinese recipe
Orange and Lemon Chicken



Serves 3-4

Ingredients:


400 g chicken fillets
2 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp Chinese rice wine
1 tsp cornflour
1 tbsp rapeseed oil
Zest of one orange
zest of one lemon
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
Fresh chopped coriander
1 cup rice

1 tbsp rapeseed oil
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
Half a courgette, diced
3 spring onions, chopped

Method:

Mix together the soy sauce, rice wine and cornflour. Add in the chicken, cubed if you wish, and marinate for about 15 minutes.

Place the rice in a saucepan with 2 cups of water, cover, bring to the boil then turn the heat off, and allow it to cook in its own steam. Do not remove the lid!

Heat a wok or frying pan with the oil, and add the chicken, with some salt, the lemon and orange zest and the chilli flakes. Stir fry for about 5 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir in the sesame oil and give it about 3 minutes before stirring in the fresh coriander for a further minute.

Meanwhile, in another pan, stir-fry the garlic, with some salt for 30 seconds, then add in the courgettes and spring onions, and fry for about 3-4 minutes until soft.

Delicious!










Friday 8 August 2014

Comedor Grill and Bar, Islington - Restaurant Review

Wine Wednesday. What better incentive for a choice of restaurant for a midweek catch-up with friends? Located on the Highbury end of Upper Street, Comedor Grill and Bar is unintrusive and you could walk past if you weren't headed there intentionally. I had booked ahead, as off the back of the recent World Cup Brazilian frenzy I had heard great things about South American steak. Billed as an Argentine Restaurant, serving a range of classic and modern South American dishes we were quite literally drooling over the many cuts of steak available on the menu - from classics cuts such as fillet and sirloin, to Comedor cuts like Churrasco and Assado, cooked using traditional Argentine methods, marinated in the chef's own marinade, brushed with chimichurri, and cooked to your liking with a sauce of your choice.
 
I couldn't fault the starters; a traditional empanada for me, the traditional Argentinian pastry, filled with spicy beef and served with an aji sauce (a hot pepper sauce) with lime. Exquisite empanadas. One just wasn't enough; crispy baby squid wrapped in mooli radish and served with chilli jelly. Succulent on the inside with a light crispy batter; and seared tuna - thinly sliced tuna splashed with soy sauce, ginger, chilli and sesame. Simple yet tasty. All served up on long white plates, giving the dishes a contemporary feel.



squid
Baby Squid with Chilli Jelly
Seared Tuna

Spicy Beef Empanada

Main course options were varied and set apart from the steak menu. The fillet, although relatively expensive, was large, cooked perfectly and eaten with large hand-cut triple-cooked chips. The Chicken Aji Panca was a lighter option, succulent and juicy chicken in a milder chilli marinade, and the Entrana (sliced rare steak) and Goat's Cheese Mash was soft and creamy as promised, the distinctive goat's cheese flavour was subtle yet palatable.


Fillet Steak

Chicken Aji Panca
Entrana and Goat's Cheese Mash
For dessert, we all went for the Ecuadorian Baked Dark Chocolate Torte. A warm mousse-tart served with pistachio ice cream, there were actually moments of quiet as we indulged in this divine dessert.



Ecuadorian Baked Dark Chocolate Torte

The service was excellent, friendly, attentive and good-natured, particularly when asking for our free glass of wine with our main course! Every Wednesday Comedor offer a glass of wine with every main course ordered - you do need to ask specifically for the #WineWednesday offer! Ah, the power of Twitter...
There is also a great offer on Mondays - 50% off all steaks. Certainly worth another visit very soon.

 
176 Upper Street, Islington, London N1 1RG 
020 7354 2843
 
Open Daily: Mon-Fri: 5pm - 11pm / Sat-Sun: 12pm - 11pm
 
 

Square Meal Comedor Grill and Bar on Urbanspoon

Monday 4 August 2014

Y'Thai, Stokesley - Restaurant Review

Saturday night in Middlesbrough. Thoughts of coconut and chilli. It had to be Thai. There weren't that many options, surprisingly, although there is a great choice of restaurants in the Boro. The power of Twitter (thanks to Andrew FisherLove MiddlesbroughKazoova, and Colleen Grogan) led me all the way to Stokesley, about 10 miles outside Middlesbrough, to Y'Thai. In my head I'm chanting 'Why aye, Y'Thai' all the way there, but this, I am reliably informed, is Geordie or Mackem speak, so apologies to all my Northern friends for my cultural confusion.
 
For me, Thai food is all about the starters. I could eat them all night! We chose the Satay Kai (Chicken Satay) with Peanut and Cucumber dip, the Kung Hom Pha (Crispy Wrapped King Prawns) with Sweet Chilli Sauce and (for comparison purposes only, honest) Poh Pia Pak (Vegetarian Spring Rolls). All delicious. Served with a pretty lotus leaf-shaped carrot garnish. Nice touch. There's a great selection of starters, all reasonably priced (comparing them to Down London prices), all typical authentic Thai dishes.
 
Y'Thai
Crispy Wrapped King Prawns with Sweet Chilli Sauce
 
Y'Thai
Vegetarian Spring Rolls
 
Y'Thai
Chicken Satay with Peanut Dip
 
With some reluctance, we moved on to main courses. I only say this as I love the starters so much. It didn't take long before my Gang Mussaman (Chicken curry with potatoes) - a fragrant, heavy, coconut-based curry - transported me back to Koh Samui. Only two chillies on the menu, so I asked for an extra one, and it didn't disappoint. Himself had the Panang Nua (Beef Red Curry) - a lighter coconut-based dish - which was probably not the best we've had (well, we have been to Bangkok!) but pretty good all the same. It wasn't as spicy as I would have expected, but the flavours and spices were all there.
 
 
 
The service was excellent, attentive without being over-bearing, and the atmosphere was humming. Some traditional Thai décor set off the evening nicely, and the choice of beers, Chang, Tiger, and Singha, were also reminiscent of our travels.
 
For a tasty Thai, I would definitely recommend Y'Thai.
 
 
A shout out too to Boro Cars for getting us back safely. The app is awesome!
 
Y'Thai
4 High St
Stokesley
Tel: 01642 710165
 
 
 
 




Saturday 2 August 2014

Dosa Houze, Middlesbrough - Restaurant Review

Last time we ate out in Boro, we visited Dosa Houze on Victoria Road. We had such a good meal I wrote the following review for Tripadvisor:

I've eaten lots and LOTS of Indian food in my life, but have never really had the opportunity to try Southern Indian cuisine before. I love spicy food, and I love trying new things, and going out for an Indian meal usually means onion bhajii, chicken jalfrezi, pilau rice and a peshwari naan. However at Dosa Houze, the waitress first introduced herself and asked if we had ever tried it before. When we said no, she explained all the dishes and recommended the best way to try each course. We had dosas to start, a pancake made from rice flour and ground lentils, served with a variety of fillings - I had paneer and spinach with a kick of chilli - and a coconut/peanut chutney and a spicy sambar soup. The chef can judge by the hotness of your soup how hot you will like your main course!

For main course, I chose the thali with three curries - a coconut chicken, a tamarind prawn, and a fenugreek lam - served with an Anchra style naan - unlike the naans served in the Indian restaurants I'm more familiar with, but just as delicious. The tradition is to eat with your (right) hand, so mopping up the curries with the bread was a sensual as well as delicious experience. My only disappointment was the chicken coconut curry - it had a chicken soup flavour, so I wouldn't have that again, but otherwise it was a most inspiring and enjoyable meal. My husband had the chicken biryani, which was again accompanied by the spicy sambar and a salad, he liked it all but the chicken was a little dry.


thali
Thali

Overall I loved it, the ambience was lovely, the decor was a bit one-sided - by the window way beautifully ethnically decorated while further in was quite bland, and in need of some more attention. It was possible to see into the kitchen where the chefs were working too, which is always a good sign!
I would definitely recommend this restaurant for Southern Indian food. Don't go expecting your usually chicken tikka masala or saag aloo, try something different, you will not be disappointed.

Now we are back, and I'd love to return, but they are SHUT! What's going on?
 
"NOTICE TO ALL CUSTOMERS
 
Due to unexpected problem, we had to shut down today, we are not able to inform our customers who have booked with us today. OUR SINCERE APOLOGISES TO ONE AND ALL FOR THIS INCONVENIENCE. PLEASE ACCEPT OUR APOLOGISES."
 
Unexpected problems... well, now I have one, as this was what I was most looking forward to this trip Up North! However I'm sure they'll be up and running again before long, and when they are (before Tuesday I hope!) I'll be first in the queue...
Dosa Houze on Urbanspoon